


A World of Happiness

by xApollo



Category: Mystic Messenger (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Dystopian society, Gen, Other, disbanded RFA, dystopian government, in which the game doesn't take place
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-08-08
Packaged: 2018-12-06 00:54:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,553
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11589693
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/xApollo/pseuds/xApollo
Summary: Three years after the last party, and half a year after the RFA chat has been abandoned, all members receive a text. But what for, and will it help them become closer again, or will it endanger them?





	1. Reminiscence and Request

**Author's Note:**

> This is an introduction/first chapter to an idea I had. I will probably continue this anyway, but let me know if there's any specific ships or if you actually want me to continue at all ^^.  
> MC will definitely appear at some point, as well as all other (major?) characters (read: Saeran, Rika, V, probably Vanderwood). Hope you enjoy~

It’d been three years since the last party, and about half a year since the RFA chat had last been active. V had become less active over time, and so the RFA had lost its purpose, and slowly fallen apart. 

Jumin looked at his phone, the app still downloaded on it. Why he hadn’t removed it, he wasn’t quite sure. Was it nostalgia? Probably. Maybe part of him hoped that everyone would start talking again, that there’d be another party, that V would suddenly jump into the chat with a plan to get the association back on its feet. Rationally, Jumin knew this wouldn’t happen. Emotionally, he wasn’t even sure if it was really what he was hoping for and if it really was the reason he hadn’t removed the app. For a second, his thumb hovered over the icon, then he received a call and the thoughts were pushed from his mind.

The call had been from his assistant – Jaehee, the only person from the group he was still in touch with.

She, in her turn, was still an avid fan of Zen – although their contact too had watered, and she was now back to admiring him from afar. Right now, she was at home with the cat of her boss. Jumin, once again, had dumped his beloved Elizabeth the Third at Jaehee’s house during a business trip. But the cat couldn’t live for that much longer, right? What was the average life span of a feline? Instead of looking this up, she’d decided to call her boss. As she was in charge of planning his schedule, she knew he would be back the next day, but Elizabeth hadn’t been eating properly, and she couldn’t risk losing her job over the health of a cat. After silently cursing herself for wishing for the cat’s death – or really, not death, just for her not to be a part of Jaehee’s life – she called Jumin to discuss the matter.  
As the phone call ended, with Jumin giving her plenty of advice and making sure she hadn’t been mistreating Elizabeth, Jaehee let out a sigh. She got up and took care of her boss’ precious cat, then sat down to watch one of Zen’s musicals, which was still one of her favourite pastimes. As she watched, her mind wandered off to actual past times, when she and Zen were still friends. She wondered what he was up to these days – well, she knew what he was up to these days, but not regarding his personal life. He sure didn’t get involved in a scandal, but she’d always had the vague feeling the RFA was all he’d had when it came to friends. After all, he was ridiculously busy all the time, almost as much as Jaehee was herself. 

Zen was lonelier than ever, though he’d taken to hanging out with Yoosung. The two of them had been the last ones to keep in touch through the app, and so they’d remained friends. A lot of things had happened, hilarious memories, drunken memories, but they always felt somewhat empty when looking back on them as they were. Although he and Yoosung both pretended like everything was alright, both of them missed the people they once had called their family.  
With a dramatic sigh, Zen finished reading over the lines for his newest play, a modern version of Hamlet in which he was to be the Prince, and picked up his phone to text Yoosung. “You free tonight?” 

Yoosung looked up from his books as his phone vibrated, rubbing his eyes. He’d been up all night studying, with the deadline for his bachelor thesis coming up in a few weeks. It’d taken a while, but he was serious about school again and had found his purpose. Surprisingly, Zen had helped him a lot on the matter, once the older male had figured out how to get through to Yoosung’s thick skull. He was finally done grieving, and he was finally ready to graduate college, early even. His bachelor thesis was coming along nicely and he was in line to graduate cum laude, something he didn’t want to give up. But he could use some relaxation. “Sure. Our regular pub at 9?” 

After a confirmation, both former RFA members got ready. Both got ready, but as they met up, four were surprised by a notification on their phone. 

Saeyoung – or Luciel, as he still called himself – was still working as a hacker. He was still working as a hacker, and determined not to let the loss of the RFA bother him. After all, this meant he didn’t have any friends, except his neighbourhood friend Tom, and that meant that no one would get hurt because of something he’d done or would do. So far, so good. His work was still dangerous, Honey Buddha Chips and Dr. Pepper were still delicious, and he was still the happy-go-lucky hacker everyone knew him as.  
That was, until he found a pattern.  
It wasn’t what he’d been looking for, but it was a pattern nonetheless – every so often in one of his jobs a case would turn up with a few too many similarities for it to be a coincidence. Someone would disappear for a few days and be reported as missing, only to miraculously return. Then, those who’d reported them as missing would turn to doctors, because the previously missing person’s behaviour would have changed considerably. Now, they had languid smiles, were absolutely always happy, and every now and then disappeared for ‘work’. Of course it wasn’t entirely legal or morally acceptable to hack into medical files (hacking wasn't in general), but as more cases turned up Seven had decided to investigate. If this was some dangerous plot, he’d definitely be the hero to save everyone. He couldn’t be someone’s knight in shining armour, but he could definitely be everyone’s knight in shining armour. 

The deeper he investigated, the more dangerous the pattern seemed. He’d hacked into numerous organisations, both for work and eventually besides work, and he found that the government was involved. Hacking into security cameras to follow the missing people had resulted in him finding them following friendly-looking people and then turning up in a government facility.  
Was the government brainwashing people?  
Seven wasn’t sure. What he was sure about, however, was that something was going on. After the initial ‘brainwashing’, or their return to their family, they would every now and then speak with people with the same smiles and carefree attitudes, and then take people to government facilities themselves, or do some other task that pointed to criminal behaviour rather than that of someone who’s miraculously become the happiest person in the world.

Although he wanted to investigate further, this didn’t seem like something he could take on by himself. More people seemed to be.. converted? On a daily basis, and no one was paying attention – because while their behaviour changed, it was generally for the best, and while they disappeared for a few days, they all seemed to have good cover-up stories and they did return, so the police wasn’t doing anything.  
But Luciel wasn’t sure who to turn to. He couldn’t turn to his bosses, as they weren’t quite benevolent, or anyone else involved in the secret organisation. He didn’t have any friends.  
He didn’t, although he used to.

It’d taken him about a month of contemplation, weighing the advantages and disadvantages against one another, until he’d decided who he’d be asking for help. If they didn’t want to be involved – then so be it, he would take this task on by himself, and probably be hurt in the process, or turned into someone with a languid smile and an ever-happy attitude. If they did, he’d have help. 

Everyone had stopped talking. But had everyone stopped caring?

Seven knew no one had removed the app. He knew, because he was in charge of the app, and because he was a hacker. 

Seven was nervous as he typed out his message, unsure what kind of shitstorm would come from this, but quite sure it was what he needed to do.

His thumb hovered over the send button for five minutes, and then he pressed it.

_707: Guys. I need your help._


	2. Inquire and Insist

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> One by one the members log in to the app they've abandoned for so long as Seven tries to convince them of the plot he's discovered. But will they agree to help him - or even believe him?

Zen and Yoosung had both just ordered a drink, and were now both staring at their phones blankly. Neither of them knew how to act, or if they should act at all, or if maybe they were hallucinating.

“You’re… seeing this too, right?” Zen eventually asked, a light frown on his perfectly chiseled face as he looked up from his phone and at Yoosung instead.

Yoosung nodded, though he didn’t look up from his phone.

“He may just be pranking us.”

Yoosung nodded again, then finally looked up, his eyes determined as his nod turned into a shaking of his head. “No. Seven likes to joke around, but he wouldn’t contact us out of the blue like this if not necessary. He likes to joke, but he doesn’t like to worry people.”

“I’m not sure about that,” Zen said with a sigh, his finger moving to open the notification on his phone. Before he could type anything, however, a second message had already appeared.

Jumin Han: ?

It couldn’t have been a coincidence that he’d been thinking about the RFA just today, and now he’d received a message. Could Luciel read minds? Although he was quite sure even Luciel wouldn’t be able to accomplish such a feat, he’d almost automatically opened the app and responded, as if the six months of silence had never happened. Zen had logged in just after he’d hit the send button. Jumin was almost certain that this would be a prank, that he’d regret wasting his time on typing even the question mark, but he was curious. And the only way to solve curiosity is, of course, by investigating.

A second later Yoosung entered the chat as well, urged on by the second notification. He was now almost eagerly waiting for Seven’s explanation, a feeling he hadn’t felt in a long time spreading through his body. He’d been okay, he’d been alright, but it’d been long since he’d been hopeful – or excited. Whatever this was, it would definitely bring the organisation back. Or so he’d decided, or hoped.

Luciel was almost surprised by the quick response to his text – three logged in, one reply. As he was about to start typing his explanation, Jaehee logged in as well.

Jaehee Kang: That’s a rude way to greet old friends.

A smirk.

707: I know.  
707: But then this is urgent, and we can catch up when I’m done explaining!  
Jumin Han: This better not be some kind of prank, Luciel.  
Yoosung★: I don’t think it is.  
707: See! Yoosung believes in me.  
Jumin Han: …  
Jumin Han: Start your explanation.

It took a few minutes for Seven to type out a proper explanation considering he tried to soun as serious as possible, a few minutes in which Jumin considered leaving the chatroom multiple times. But he wasn’t disappointed.

707: I’ve come across some weird, similar cases in which people disappear, return a few days later, and then their behaviour is completely twisted. All they do is smile, they listen to orders from people with the same smile, and they start converting (?) people themselves. It seems to be some kind of weird plot, and more people are getting involved every day. I wanted to investigate more myself, but I figured that’d be a bad idea, and you guys are the only one I can turn to!

He paused after hitting sent, then quickly added another message.

707: The government is involved somehow, too. That’s why it seems dangerous to me ;-;

An emoticon, because none of the members had ever seen him type quite as long a message while actually remaining serious.

Jumin: That’s a very intricate plot, but I think you’re going to have to provide evidence.

A very intricate plot, but also one that could very well just be the fabrication of Seven’s own mind. It’d take a little more for Jumin to be convinced – actually, quite a lot more, but evidence would be a good start.

Seven, having anticipated this, immediately sent a file with the gathered evidence. He figured only one person would believe him without this evidence, and that would be the only one who’d believed in him before he’d even typed out his story. Ah, Yoosung. How Seven had missed the naïve little blond. But of course, this wasn’t the time to mess around.

It took a while for anyone to reply.

“This.. actually seems legit,” Zen admitted with a frown as he scrolled over the information Seven had sent over. “He’s not joking around.”

“I told you he wasn’t,” Yoosung said, although there was no self-satisfaction in his words. He was worried now. What had Seven gotten himself into? More importantly, was the RFA going to get involved, too? Did he _want_ to be involved? He definitely didn’t want Seven to take on the forces behind this plot on his own, but he had his education to worry about, and his own relative sanity.

“What do you think he’s expecting of us?”

“I don’t know,” Zen said, a sigh escaping him. “But I guess we’re about to find out.”

Jaehee Kang: While this information proves your story, assuming it is not forged, you have to admit you contacting us about this is kind of odd.  
Jaehee Kang: What do you expect us to do about it?

She’d read the information, taken it in, but she couldn’t see how they were to interfere. While Mr. Han had a lot of resources, if this were really a government plot, most of those resources had a chance of being contaminated already. It was evident why Luciel couldn’t turn to the police or any other law enforcement organisation, but it was less evident why he hadn’t just taken this on alone. What made him so sure that he couldn’t do this by himself?

707: Good question. I haven’t yet devised a plan. But I know I can’t do this alone, and I.. don’t have anyone else.

Honesty was probably the way to go, right?

All this convinced Jaehee of was that it must be dangerous. That, or it was a prank after all. She decided to further inquire in order to find out his true intentions, although with the work he was involved in he was probably a confident liar and perfectly able to keep up a possible ruse.

Yoosung★: It’s good that you’re not planning on taking this on alone, but..  
Jaehee Kang: ...  
Jaehee Kang: Luciel, you have never called for help before. You’ve always done your best to take things on by yourself. What makes you so sure you can’t this time?  
707: I’ve never dealt with brainwashing before. If I investigate further by myself, chances are I’ll get caught, and then there’s no one left to figure this out.

A pause.

Jumin Han: If everyone is willing, we’d be able to do something about this, or at least figure it out.  
Jaehee Kang: ..?  
Jumin Han: The list of people ‘converted’. Is it up to date?  
707: As far as I’m aware.  
Jumin Han: Hypothetically, we could use any organisations in which no one has been converted. I could hire them.  
ZEN: Hypothetically? Unwilling to spend money, Mr. Corporate Director?  
Jumin Han: That’s not necessarily it. Do _you_ want to get involved, Zen?

No immediate reply.

It was obvious the former members, although the organisation was never really disbanded so technically just members, were considering their options. None of them were completely convinced. None of them, except for Yoosung.

Yoosung★: I’ll help where I can.  
707: ! Thank you, Yoosung.  
ZEN: Then I guess I’m in, too.

Zen wasn’t leaving Yoosung to the whims of the hacker, even if the hacker had proven to be trustworthy and good-willed over and over. Something in him was protective of Yoosung after they’d been friends for so long, as if the blond had become his little brother, and he wasn’t letting him go in alone.

Jaehee Kang: I guess.. it’s worth looking into.  
Jumin Han: We’d all be in danger.  
707: I’ll do everything in my power to assure your safety!!  
Jumin Han: You can’t. That’s why you came here, right?

Saeyoung didn’t reply. Jumin was right, and they all knew it.

Jumin sighed. With everyone agreeing to the plan, or.. lack of plan, he felt pressured to do the same. He felt pressured on top of feeling obligated. If Seven was right, then the five of them were now officially the only ones to know about whatever was happening. Although he didn’t generally care for the greater good when it didn’t involve himself, he could hardly let some plot take over the government, probably destroying society as they knew it. With his influence, he couldn’t not act. And even if he chose not to act, he’d probably be one of the first to be brainwashed, or converted, or whatever it really was that was happening. No matter how he turned it, if this was true, it did involve himself – and all of Korea.

He wasn’t afraid. But he wasn’t entirely convinced.

Jumin Han: I’ll do what I can. But you’ll have to come up with a plan, Luciel.

Seven nodded, realised that Jumin couldn’t see that, and answered.

707: You can count on me.  
Jumin Han: Then you’re free to contact me again later. I’ll be going now.  
Jumin Han: Assistant Kang, we have a meeting to prepare for.  
Jaehee Kang: Right. Let us know what we can do, Luciel.

One by one everyone said their goodbyes. One by one, until another member logged in to the chat.

_V: Hello, everyone. Long time no see._


	3. Contact and Conflict

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> V's back. Back again. He's back. But does he still have a friend, or friends?

Jumin’s thumb was hovering over the button that would close the app, frozen by the appearance of an old friend. An old friend he still considered his best friend, regardless of the lack of contact over the last year. He’d been the first to break contact, and he’d been the cause of the organisation falling apart.

But of course, Jumin had never blamed him. He just hadn’t expected him to show up at a moment like this, either. While he was frozen, Yoosung took the liberty to reply.

Yoosung★: Can we all agree not to listen to anything he’s saying?  
Yoosung★: No offense – actually, full offense. He’s going to tell us not to do anything.  
Jaehee Kang: But then we weren’t immediately planning on doing anything.

“Yoosung, calm down. He might just have shown up due to the notifications.”

“No, Zen! You know he wouldn’t. He never shows up unless he has something he wants or needs. He may _pretend_ like everything is to protect us-“

“But you have no proof it isn’t. I know you loved Rika, we all did. And I know you blame him for the RFA falling apart. But attacking him like this, when all he’s doing is greeting us..”

Yoosung almost growled in frustration. Zen was right, but that didn’t mean Yoosung was going to accept it just like that. He had never gotten full closure – or disclosure – regarding his cousin’s death, and he definitely blamed V. V knew more, he was sure of it. And now, V was going to ruin what very likely could be just the thing to bring them all together again.

V: Yoosung..  
V: I can’t say you’re wrong.   
V: I am here to tell you that you shouldn’t get involved. But it’s really for your best interest.  
Yoosung★: Isn’t everything always?   
Jumin Han: I see you’ve still not gotten over your negative feelings towards V.

Finally Jumin had unfrozen, only to anger Yoosung further.

Yoosung★: He hasn’t given me a reason to, has he? On top of everything, he stopped talking. He’s the reason the RFA practically disbanded, with none of us talking anymore.

No response. Everyone knew Yoosung was right, although they hardly dared admit it. The parties were what they’d had in common – they wanted to help the world where they could. But they hadn’t even be able to do this without Rika, let be V.

Finally, Seven spoke.

707: Why?

More silence. None of the other members had known whether or not V had kept in touch with Seven, but evidently, he hadn’t. Seven was questioning him, where he’d otherwise always followed V’s orders without much of a second thought. Now Seven was challenging V – a challenge to which V didn’t immediately answer.

V, as always, definitely meant well. The plot sounded dangerous. Actually, he was fairly sure that it _was_ dangerous, and that he knew where it originated. That said, none of the former RFA members should get involved – he’d take care of this himself, like he always took care of everything himself. It was his burden, and if he was right, his fault.

Of course, he couldn’t tell the others this.

So instead, a soft sigh escaped his lips. “Rika..”

There’d been so much problems, and when she disappeared to do what she wanted, he’d never expected her to actually try and take over.. what, the government? Or was this about the world? Of course, she thought it was spreading happiness. But regardless of whether this was the case or not, she definitely wasn’t going about it the right way, even if there _was_ a right way.

V: I’ve always taken care of things, right?  
707: Have you really?

He was quick to reply, because he’d been having his suspicions. V always took care of everything – he’d brought them together, and then he’d left them on their own. He was the glue to the organisation after Rika’s death, and he vanished. On top of that, he was the one who’d taken care of Saeran. Saeran, whom Seven desperately wanted to believe was okay. Last he’d seen were pictures of his twin brother smiling, but that was so long ago..

He’d trusted V. Had. There’d been too much silence for the bond to remain, and now he was suspicious. Really, V? Showing up just when he’d found something potentially dangerous? V always wanted to take care of everything himself, but Saeyoung had lost the faith that he actually could.

V stopped responding.

Yoosung had an almost satisfied smile, Zen a worried frown.

Jumin, for once, was speechless. While he was supposed to be V’s best friend, within the organisation Seven and V had always been closer. He hadn’t minded, had actually respected the unconditional trust in their relationship, but witnessing it fall apart was something he hadn’t prepared for.

He found himself siding with Luciel, who’d tried, but failed to keep the organisation together, and was now trying to get them together again. Luciel, who’d always protected them, who’d always followed orders, and who was undeniably a genius. V was his childhood friend. But he’d abandoned them. And he’d given them no reason for further trust.

He didn’t blame V. But he found that when thinking about it, when forced to think about it like he was now, he no longer trusted him.

The one to speak, finally, was Jaehee.

Jaehee Kang: Mr. Han. We have that meeting to get to.

Upon her message, V logged out.

Jumin raised a hand to his forehead, lightly rubbing against the upcoming headache.

Jumin Han: Yes.   
Jumin Han: Luciel, let us know once you’ve devised a plan.

He logged out, and then Jaehee.

ZEN: Are you.. okay?  
707: Haha.   
707: Yeah, I’m fine.   
707: I’ll get going!! I’ll make us the best of plans!!

With that he logged out, leaving Zen and Yoosung staring at their screens.

He was feeling terrible. Despite his thoughts seeming rational, V had been like a father to him for a long time. Now he wasn’t even defending himself. Seven was sure that V would try again at some other point, or contact members individually. Part of him even believed that the other would show up at his place, for a well-meant hug and an explanation. The other, bigger part of him believed that V would try, but that he wouldn’t have an explanation, or that he’d at least refuse to give it.

Saeyoung shook his head, getting rid of thoughts that would only get him down, and looked at his computer screen with determination. It was time to make a plan.

Zen and Yoosung got back to their drinks, albeit a lot less lustfully than they usually would’ve done. While Yoosung was glad that his suspicions regarding V weren’t just his own, he was now starting to realise what this meant. The RFA would never get back in action, not the way it’d once been. Seven wouldn’t trust V, unless something big happened. _He_ wouldn’t trust V, but that was nothing new.

Zen did still trust V, although he wasn’t quite sure why.

“I don’t think V ever meant wrong,” he said thoughtfully, his voice almost a whisper as he seemed to be the only one to think this. He was used to arguing and having others disagree with him, but this was a sensitive matter.

“He might not have. But even if he meant well, his execution has always been.. A bit off,” Yoosung reasoned, although his voice wasn’t harsh either. He wasn’t angry. He was rational.

“He just takes on the burden by himself where he can in order to protect those he cares about.”

“Except it’s not just where he can, but also where he can’t.”

Yoosung finished his beer, looking at Zen. “He’s old enough to know that you shouldn’t carry the weight of you’re the world, or even your own world, by yourself.” Still no anger, although there was some disappointment in his voice. He’d always wanted to be able to trust V, despite his anger. Over the years, as the anger faded, mostly due to lack of contact, he found himself disappointed that he never found a reason to. He almost smiled as he realised that the moment V reappeared, so had his anger.

“You’re so aggressive when it comes to V,” Zen almost laughed, then shook his head. “Although you do have some points. But I really don’t think we should be treating him this harshly.”

“It’s on him to prove that there’s no reason to, right?”

“I.. guess. We’ve given him that responsibility now, anyway.” He finished his beer as well, then stood up. “We should get going.”

Yoosung stretched, then did smile. “Yeah.”

Regardless of the direction the conversation had gone in, he was glad he’d gotten to talk to everyone again, even if it was just for a short while. And he had faith that Seven would contact them again soon.

As they left, they didn’t see an old friend across the street, wearing sunglasses at night and having a dog on a leash. As they left, the old friend didn’t see them either. But he’d be watching, and taking care of them, like he’d always done. He’d be watching, carefully, and prevent any harm from coming to them.

It was his fault, and he’d protect everyone involved, even the person at the head of the organisation that did the brainwashing. He’d protect the entire RFA, or die trying.


End file.
